Anna players and coaches pose with a Division VI regional runner-up trophy after their 3-0 loss to Coldwater on Saturday at Northmont High School’s Thunderdome. The Rockets lost 3-0 and finish the season 18-8.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
CLAYTON – The Anna Rockets fell 3-0 to the Coldwater Cavaliers on Saturday in a Division VI regional final contest at Northmont High School.
“There are no words to really describe it right now,” Rockets head coach Kelli Zumberger said following the match. “The girls responded well, especially in that third set, and did exactly what we wanted them to do. They’re always working their tails off.”
Anna (18-8) jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first set before the ninth ranked team in the state was able to catch its footing. When the Rockets got around to calling their first timeout, Coldwater had gone on a 7-0 run and led 9-5.
Anna made a run following the timeout and nearly tied the game up, but the Cavaliers again caught stride and went up 20-12 en route to a 25-14 loss for the Rockets in the first set.
“A lot of these girls were playing on varsity as sophomores,” Zumberger said. “When we talked about our goals this summer, getting to this point was definitely on our checklist.”
In the second set, Anna again came out swinging and trailed by only three points by the time Coldwater reached 10 points. From that point onward, the Rockets were outscored 15-8 and went on to drop the second set 25-15.
“They’re a tough group,” Zumberger said. “They’re just a great example for everyone to see and know that this is what it takes to get to this point in the season. They’ve proven that we can do it.”
Anna took the court for while an air of urgency set in.
The Rockets stormed out to an 8-7 lead that grew to an 11-8 lead as they forced the Cavaliers to take their first timeout of the match.
The timeout did little to stop the rally of Anna as it extended the lead to 14-10 but the powerhouse Coldwater team was able to fight back and regain the lead after a 9-4 run.
Losing the lead didn’t deter the Rockets from seeing it through the end. Anna managed to knot the game up at 20-20 and nearly were just the third team this season to take a set from the Cavaliers.
That however, wouldn’t happen as the Rockets fell 25-23 in the third set, ending their season.
“We went through a bit of a hiccup midway through the season,” Zumberger said. “You learn from that. After our loss to Russia we knew we had to buckle down and figure it out. We took off from there, you can see that. That’s why we made it to regional finals.
“It’s a lot for our underclassmen to see that we can get to this point. We worked hard this summer in the gym and the weight room doing a lot of individual work. That’s what it has to take to get us back to this point again.”
Team leaders for Anna were seniors Liz Staudter with 11 kills, Izzy Jenkins with 24 assists and Madison Mumaw with 18 digs.
“We were always a really tight team,” Rockets libero Madison Mumaw said of her time with the team. “We’ve always worked together and have a great bond.”
Mumaw took over as libero halfway through last season and continued her role this year.
“I wanted it this year,” Mumaw said of the libero spot. “I worked so hard to keep it and am very proud of that. As a team, winning districts this year was a great accomplishment. That’s what we wanted to do this season and we did.”
Reach assistant editor/sports writer Ryan Harless at 937-538-4651 or follow @RyanHarless_ on X (formerly Twitter).
